GDT: Savannah frowns

[moytoy12]

<blockquote class='ipsBlockquote'data-author="billikenfan05" data-cid="334735" data-time="1357359853"><p>

What he did was impressive but have you all gone mental? Horace fuoking Broadnax? Why do you want a middle of the road MEAC coach? Does the fact that they scored <40 PTA the last 3 games raise any red flags. You really do miss b-rad! It was one game!</p></blockquote>

And I didn't see anything too impressive on offense for them other than our lack of defensive intensity.

I'm really thinking we didn't scout them or our coaching staff has no answers for the pressure defense. Of course, we were befuddled yet again by another zone.

[billiken_roy]

Go read what he has done w savanaugh st since he got there. You think thats easy? What might he do w a much bigger budget, better players a better conf to attract better recruits?

Remember he also is a john thompson guy.

I am not saying he is our guy. I wrote "give him an interview" most all coaches started at some sort of "savanaugh st."

[billiken_roy]

Moy it is my thought you didnt see much on offense because they really arent that skilled. Hell they only shot 4 threes. They are what they are.....a low div 1 team that plays hard and maxs what talent they have.

[JettFlight5]

Broadnax did a great job tonight.

[moytoy12]

<blockquote class='ipsBlockquote'data-author="billiken_roy" data-cid="334738" data-time="1357360620"><p>

Moy it is my thought you didnt see much on offense because they really arent that skilled. Hell they only shot 4 threes. They are what they are.....a low div 1 team that plays hard and maxs what talent they have.</p></blockquote>

Good points. I did appreciate the multiple defenses we saw.

[StlCardinal]

The offense might not have been pretty at times, but the excellent 3 pt and FT shooting made up for it. We actually scored 1.05 points per possesion, which is slightly better than our season average. This coming against the 27th ranked defense in the country according to kenpom, so certainly nothing to be ashamed of.

The real problem seemed to be the rebounding and defensive intensity. Too many easy baskets and o-rebound putbacks. We came out in the 2nd half expecting to coast to an easy win, and apparently the tigers thought otherwise. This seems like the sort of thing that fixable, so I'm still plenty optimistic for the conference season.

[The Wiz]

This is what a D+ team looks like when it plays at its best. The great D was no surprise but they shot way over their head...49% vs a normal 38%. Of course, the stat I like to look at is opponent 3pt shooting % ....only 20%... low even for them ...ave 25%. You could argue they only shot 5 times...even better...good 3 pt D keeps you from even taking the shot.

Random thoughts...

We seem to play to the level of our competition.

Contrary to what many think this was a good win...When the other team is hot and you are not having your best game, you have to find a way to win. We did and that makes it a good win...not a pretty win...but a good win.

The 8 point win while short of the spread won't hurt our numbers . After you pass 12 points it is marginal help. A 1 or 2 point win would have done some damage.

It was disturbing to hear Crews say we weren't prepared for the defenses they threw at us. Said he hadn't schooled the team on them and it was his fault. Nice that he manned up and took responsibility but still disturbing we weren't ready. Better be ready next time as UMass will come at us the same way.

Overall, this was what it was supposed to be ...a tune up game...turns out it was a tough one but some good may come of it if we come out ready against a defensive UMass team.

[JettFlight5]

How much of them being hot can be explained by our lack of defensive focus/intensity?

That's what scared a lot of us.

[billiken_roy]

Again i look to evans sitting for reasoning. Remeken cant do it all in the lane. And the tigers got decent shots from the lane. I thought our guards did fine. But our interior d missed evans. The proof the tigers attacted inside is ellis got three more charges and prob could have gotten a couple more. I.e. tigers going to the rim all the time

[The Wiz]

How much of them being hot can be explained by our lack of defensive focus/intensity?

That's what scared a lot of us.

I think the lack of def focus/intensity is a combination of playing a lesser team after beating a ranked team....exactly what happened to New Mex. The difference was we held it together and won. That is why this was a good win.

[billiken_roy]

Wiz makes a great point. Won a stinker. Be happy. I remember pitino once after a near loss being asked about not having his team pumped up and prepared vs a much lesser team.

He said every game cant be a "win one for the gipper game". Some games the team just needs to do the job and win. The billikens did the job and won.

[thetorch]

We weren't up for this game at all. Very little intensity after we got up 12-2. Had a chance to put them away very early with a couple defensive stops and we let them hang around for the rest of regulation.

It seemed we were at our worst against the press when we had McCall, Mitchell, & Jett all out on the floor. Hard to fathom. The press wasn't that difficult to break, we just didn't move without the ball. I couldn't believe we had a 10 second call against us. I wonder what we will do against a real press like VCU's?

We are so outmanned on the boards when DE is out. The game plan of every team in the A10 against should be to get DE in foul trouble. We are soft when he's not on the floor.

Loe had another lackadaisical effort. Good thing for him Manning didn't make up any ground. One or the other has to step up.

Mitchell is now 1-11 from 3.

I'd give Broadnax an interview too.

[billikens747]

Stinker? Yup, but a W nonetheless.

A couple of thing I've noticed.

The past few games I've seen JJ selling out for the steal and getting burned. Also, he's our top passer, but tend to be over ambitious at times and turning the ball over.

The way we handled the press this game is concerning. Even with 3 guards. When we did break it no one is taking it aggressively to the basket. Lack of confidence?

CE has been impressive defensively as well as CR. Huge block tonight for CR. Sent it to half court!

[JettFlight5]

How much of them being hot can be explained by our lack of defensive focus/intensity?

That's what scared a lot of us.

I think the lack of def focus/intensity is a combination of playing a lesser team after beating a ranked team....exactly what happened to New Mex. The difference was we held it together and won. That is why this was a good win.

You're probably right, and have the numbers to back it up.

[JettFlight5]

A win beats a loss anytime, anywhere.

[bonwich]

I do hope Coach Crews spends at least 10 minutes in today's practice standing in front of JJ and yelling "10...9...8..." They get hit for one inexcusable 10-second call (what? we can't call time out on the court, either?) and then Jordair comes within a whisker of getting another one. I almost burst an artery yelling "GET IT OVER THE LINE!!!" (much to the amusement of the rest of my section).

[Box and Won]

The way we handled the press this game is concerning. Even with 3 guards. When we did break it no one is taking it aggressively to the basket. Lack of confidence?

Definitely. I can think of several instances of this occurring last night.

[cheeseman]

Having been at the game the two things I saw was that we did not block anybody out on the defensive boards - they ate us up with their offensive rebounding - there is no excuse for that. Second, as we tried to break the press we would not move without the ball and when our guards got the ball they did not attack the basket. Had we rebounded better defensively, then they would not have been able to set up their press - we were always taking the ball out of bounds after they scored on the rebound and that gave them time to set up for us. Why our guards were afraid to attack the basket - I am not sure but that zone kept smothering us down low when we got the ball in and we could power through it.

[Taj79]

As I said early on, zonebusting occurs when the ball enters the middle. Multiple players react to defend. This is when the quick pass to the vacated area comes into play. This should have been Jett into the middle with the drive/dish option to Remekun down low. Doesn't matter if its a standard zone or a half court zone press. Earl said the same thing. A couple of beat downs here early, and they back off because they're defense is getting hammered. But it didn't happen. Plus, at the end, why not have Jett be the inbound guy? If they are going to foul the ball the minute it hits the court, wouldn't it be better to have JJ inbounding to CE and not the other way around?

I am concerned that the "Three Amigos" did not exhibit better upperclass leadership. With guards like Mitchell, McCall and Jett, we should be unpressable. Umass' guys are all 6'5" and taller (except Chaz Williams). We better learn quick because it will be 6'10 Putney and 6'9" Esho on the press point. As someone pointed out, what will happen when Shaka Smart's "Havoc" comes calling?

I stopped short saying Broadnax needed an interview but I walked away most impressed with his handling of this game. I don't know that that makes him relevant for us or not but he COACHED. Our guy continues to act like an interim caretaker. The loss of Evans is key and is even more succinct going forward. Excellent point. I agree that if I were an A10 team, I'd run right at him and see if we can get him onto the bench soonest. That much was shown last night to all who watched.

It's a win and we won when not at our best. There are enough McKendree's and William Penn's in our closet that we didn't need another skeleton. Like I said, take the win and get out of Dodge. Umass is coming to town. Game will be live TV here in the mid-Atlantic.

[Pistol]

Horace Broadnax must be quite a coach. The first time we played Savannah State, back when I was there almost a decade ago, they were a new addition to D-I (joined in 2002) and they were one of - if not the - worst D-I team I've ever seen live. We didn't play that great, either, but still managed to win by 40. The amazing thing is that it was the following year the team went 0-28. Their coach at the time was a guy named Ed Daniels (previously a high school and middle school coach in Savannah), who went 7-76 in three seasons there. They actually won 4 games in the season they played us (2003-2004) but forfeited them later when the coach's son was found to be ineligible because he was not enrolled in classes. For Broadnax to have been practicing law for 3 years before taking the SSU job and then actually winning some games (and having us and others near losing) at one of the most underfunded, disorganized programs at D-I really says something about his abilities.

http://statsheet.com/mcb/games/2003/11/24/savannah-state-33-saint-louis-73

[slufanskip]

It's a win. I wouldn't get too hung up on what we did or didn't do well. It was a trap game ripe for a letdown and we played like we deserved a loss. The guys just seemed a step slow, their passes soft and late. They didn't attack the trap or move the ball nearly quick enough. We had an officiating crew that let the game get hectic, a lot of slapping, grabbing, bumping went on without enough calls. Had they called every foul, the game would have never finished. They called a lot, but it was almost like the officiating crew adjusted during the game to keep some sort of flow. Either way, it's over and a win goes on the board.

[Clock_Tower]

Against New Mexico, I recall Alford having his guys switch to a zone at the end of the first half. We made good, quick perimeter passes and then found our center (Manning?) wide open on the inside for a dunk. That play, along with a few successful three (3) point shots and New Mexico pulled of their press.